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1 Mar 2006 : Column 825W—continued
Police
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from (a) the Courts Service, (b) the Crown Prosecution Service, (c) the National Probation Directorate and (d) criminal justice boards about the proposed re-organisation of police forces in England and Wales; and if he will place copies in the Library. [37753]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Courts Service, Crown Prosecution Service, National Offender Management Service and the Office for Criminal Justice Reform (which supports and co-ordinates the work of Local Criminal Justice Boards) have been included in the central team working on restructuring throughout the review process. Officials from these agencies have contributed to the consideration of amalgamation proposals on a case-by-case basis. Proposals for mergers therefore take into account the views of these partners on the viability and operability of a reorganised policing landscape in these localities.
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what remit the National Policing Improvement Agency will have in respect of the police forces in Wales. [53013]
Hazel Blears: Under the provisions of clause one and schedule one to the Police and Justice Bill, the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) will assist and support all forces in England and Wales in the provision of an improved policing service.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he next plans to review the level of funding for police community support officers in Cambridgeshire; and if he will make a statement. [53719]
Hazel Blears:
Under the Neighbourhood Policing Fund (NPF) we are making £88 million available in 2006–07 and £340 million available in 2007–08 to help forces increase the number of police community support
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officers (PCSOs) to 24,000 by 2008. We are currently considering proposals from forces for NPF funding and we will be confirming force allocations shortly.
We have made it clear that we will sustain the investment in PCSOs beyond 2008. In the longer term we propose to include funding for PCSOs in the general police funding.
Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers have been introduced in (a) Wakefield, (b) Wakefield Metropolitan District Council and (c) West Yorkshire since the scheme began; and what assessment he has made of the impact of the community support officers on crime and antisocial behaviour. [54280]
Hazel Blears: West Yorkshire Police recruited its first police community support officers (PCSOs) in 2002–03. The table sets out the number of PCSOs in the West Yorkshire Police for each year since 31 March 2003. Information has only been collected at Basic Command Unit (BCU) level since June 2005. The deployment of PCSOs to the Wakefield Area BCU is an operational matter for the chief constable.
A National Evaluation of Community Support Officers" (Home Office Research Study 297) was published on 25 January. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library. PCSOs have been well received by the public. They are helping to restore respect in local communities by providing reassurance and tackling antisocial behaviour and low level crime.
n/a=not available.
(24) Community support officer BCU strength collected once a year and was collected and published for the first time for the period ending 30 June 2005.
(25) September 2005.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to which organisations other than the police the National Police DNA database is made available. [41877]
Andy Burnham: Information on the National DNA Database (NDNAD) can only be used for the prevention or detection of crime, the investigation of an offence, the conduct of a prosecution or the identification of a deceased person or of the person from whom a body part came.
Within the UK the Serious Organised Crime Agency is the only organisation, other than the police, to which information on the NDNAD is made available.
Requests from international law enforcement authorities for a search of the NDNAD are channelled through Interpol. These are only processed where it is clear that the request complies with the restrictions on use. In addition, a risk assessment on the dissemination
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of the information is made which will take into account the justification and proportionality of disclosure of the information. If cleared for processing a one-off speculative search of the database is made and information fed back via Interpol.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was at current prices of policing per head of population in Cambridgeshire in (a) 1997–98, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06; and how much of this funding came from (i) council tax, (ii) police grant, (iii) national business rate, (iv) revenue support grant and (v) other funding sources in each year. [53806]
Hazel Blears: The information is set out in the following table.
We do not distribute grant to police authorities purely on the basis of population. The police funding formula uses a range of socio-demographic data to reflect reasonably the relative needs of each authority. Grant allocations also take into account the relative resources of each authority. Grant allocations are stabilised by damping changes to limit year-on-year variations.
(26) Figures of 'other' income provided by Cambridgeshire police.
Notes:
1. Real terms at 2004–05 prices using GDP deflator at 23 December 2005.
2. Other funding for 2004–05 and 2005–06 include Home Office specific grants.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in (a) Tamworth constituency, (b) the borough of Tamworth, (c) Trent Valley division and (d) Staffordshire in each year since 1997. [53403]
Hazel Blears: The available information is provided in the table. Statistics by constituency and borough are not collected centrally.
(27) All officers FTE including staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.
(28) All officers FTE less staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave
Note:
NB force were unable to provide BCU figures in 2003
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Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers have been introduced in (a) Tamworth constituency, (b) the borough of Tamworth, (c) Trent Valley division and (d) Staffordshire since the scheme began; and what assessment he has made of the impact of community support officers on crime and antisocial behaviour. [53404]
Hazel Blears: Information relating to (a) Tamworth constituency and (b) the borough of Tamworth are not collected centrally.
Information relating to the number of full-time equivalent police community support officers (PCSOs) in each police force area have been collected by RDS since 2003. As at 31 March 2003 Staffordshire did not have any PCSOs. Seven PCSOs were introduced by 31 March 2004, this increased by 56 giving a total of 63 PCSOs as at 31 March 2005. This figure decreased to 62 as at 30 September 2005.
Information on the number of PCSOs in basic command units (BCU) has only been collected since June 2005. The Trent Valley BCU had 15 PCSOs on 30 June 2005. Information is not collected on the number of PCSOs for either Tamworth constituency or borough. Deployment of PCSOs within Trent Valley division is an operational matter for the divisional commander and I am told that details of their deployment is set out in the Staffordshire police website.
A National Evaluation of Community Support Officers" (Home Office Research Study 297) was published on 25 January. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library of the House and shows that PCSOs have been well received by the public. They are helping to restore respect in local communities by providing reassurance and tackling antisocial behaviour and low level crime.
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the financial position of the pension schemes of police forces in Wales. [51026]
Hazel Blears: At present, all police forces in England and Wales pay pensions to retired officers from their general funding. This arrangement suffers from volatility and does not enable the cost of pensions in payment to be kept separate from operating costs.
With effect from April 2006, a new system of financing police pensions will be introduced in England and Wales, based on officers' contribution and a new employer contribution that will be paid by the police authority into a separate pensions account. Any shortfall in the account will be met by central Government, which will also receive any surplus. The new system will protect police forces' operational capability by ensuring that any future rise in the cost of pensions as a result of increased numbers of pensioners will not be paid for at the expense of policing.
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Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps have been taken to review the practice of police officers conferring before writing up their versions of an incident. [53323]
Hazel Blears: I understand from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) that they and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) have agreed the need for a joint review of the post incident procedures in relation to firearms incidents. The terms of reference for the review will be agreed shortly and will take account of both the IPCC and police experience of these investigations.
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent (a) the Metropolitan police and (b) other police forces are funded for the policing of major (i) commercial and (ii) non-commercial events; what Government funding for these purposes was identifiable for each force in the last year for which figures are available; and what the Government's policy is on achieving equity in the provision of policing between the Metropolitan and other force areas. [54282]
Hazel Blears: The Government allocate general grant to each police authority based on their relative needs and resources, damped to avoid excessive variation between years. Within the grant formulae, provision is made for a special payment to the Metropolitan police in recognition of its national and capital city functions.
Police authorities and Chief Officers are expected to manage the policing of special events within the resources available to them and to make reserve provision as necessary. Police authorities have powers under the Police Act 1996 to charge for special police services. Where charging is inappropriate and policing requires an extraordinary level of expenditure for which the Authority cannot reasonably provide, the Home Secretary may consider a request for special grant.
Special grants of £39.2 million have been made so far in 2005–06 and are set out in the table.
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